COLONIZING THE NEW WORLD - The Viking Edition(A re-imagining of the life of the first colonists)

The Year is 1500 A.D.
Eight years ago, the Spanish funded a quest to find a new and better route to the East Indies. The captain of that mission, a Christopher Columbus, failed in his initial quest but was not defeated. While he didn't find a way to the East Indies, he discovered an entirely new and unconquered world, a world which the European powers at the time began to scramble over one another to conquer for themselves.

The Kalmar Union knew of legends among the people that their Viking ancestors had sailed far enough to the west to have found new lands but had returned home due to unknown reasons. Perhaps the legends were true. The fact that some no-good Italian, at the behest of the Spanish government had tried to claim lands that they had claimed to have found first stirred up anger within some of the more notable members of the Kalmar Union. In secret, John, King of Denmark made preparations to send a well-equipped group of ships to the west in the hopes of establishing a colony that would enrich the Union.

Gone were the days when long-ships were to be used in sailing across a vast ocean, thus the Crown selected two ships, a large Carrack and a Caravel to be used in taking the selected volunteers to their final destination.

Some of those who volunteered were skilled in various arts and crafts and due to their willingness to serve in this way, the kingdom granted them better tools of their trade than they owned themselves before blessing them for their journey.

The ship set out under the cover of darkness with no fanfare or even knowledge of its whereabouts, as the Union had no desire that their colonial attempts be made known. It was the very end of the winter season when they left and the crew and passengers were dressed warmly for their journey across the bitter waters.

About a week into their trip, the ships faced a devastating storm, one of the last that winter would bring, but it was a ruthless and wicked sea that they fought against. Several of the passengers were encouraged and eventually pressed into service as crewmates and one such passenger was led to an early death and a watery grave. He attempted, quite valiantly, to save the sailboat that was being brought to the new land but had broken free of its lashings. Both he and the boat went over and neither was seen again. When the sea calmed back down, both crew and passengers were saddened by the loss of their fellow but happy that the storm was over leaving the group none the worse for wear.

After 5 weeks of hard sailing, a mound of greenery was sighted on the far horizon and a cheer went up among the crew and passengers. It took one more day to finally come close enough to see the new land that would be called their home, but at the Captains urging, they didnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t disembark immediately, but instead sailed further south along the coast until he found a suitable place to land. After one more day had passed and the captain found himself with a nearly mutinous crew, such that worry lines etched into his face, he was happy to find himself just outside an inlet which led into the still waters of a bay deep enough for the Carrack to enter. The bay was only about twice the Carracks length wide, but as the bay was so deep, the sailors and passengers unable to see the bottom, the captain was happy with his decision to stop.
The Caravel, with a somewhat flatter bottom, was able to sail further into the bay and help with the offloading of the materials and goods. It took two full days of grinding work before every last passenger and supply had been offloaded onto the shore. In that time period, makeshift canvas tents were erected to keep the offloaded supplies as dry as possible and In the following days, additional makeshift tents were quickly erected within the edges of the tree line which hugged the thin strip of beach.

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Enough food was given to the 99 remaining colonists to feed them for a year, it wouldnÃ”Ã‡Ã–t be the most tasteful or filling, but it would help them survive. As there was a small river which ended into the bay, the sailors refilled their water supply but left several of the empty barrels which they had brought with them on the journey.
Minus the supplies that they had spent on the trip here as well as for the sailorÃ”Ã‡Ã–s trip back, the following was what was offloaded.

As the colonists settled into their temporary homes, the sailors said their goodbyes and promised to return from time to time to look in on the colony, occasionally bringing supplies or new colonists as well as shipping trade goods from the colony to the homeland. At first the colonists seemed lost in this brand new world, unsure of where to start or what to do. They remembered however, the kings orders about electing one of their number to be governor. None of the unskilled workers felt strong or smart enough to lead them in their conquest of this new world and they turned to the opinions of the ones who had skills. These skilled workers were themselves unsure and very humble about taking up the mantle of leadership in the fledgling colony, but finally chose one of their number, a man by the name of Groff who begrudgingly accepted the position.

1. Scope out the new place: look for a nice spot near the river where the land looks flat enough to plant some grain and start a pasture for the few animals she hopes count as basic farming supplies. The chosen farm spot will ideally be suitable for either a windmill or watermill in the future so she can make flour.
2. Do farming.
3. Do farming.
4. Do farming.

((Not sure what more we're expected to do at this point, but hopefully M0rt will send some labourers my way to help till the ground. In due course, I guess she'll be wanting a farmhouse, and a bar. If any of the foragers find edible berries, nuts, fruit or seeds, they can bring them back and we'll see about planting them. Native plants are more likely to live than introductions I guess and would help diversify our food sources.))

Last edited by thinkslogically on Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Bjorn suggests to construct a town hall first, which for the beginning can double as a refuge to everyone in bad weather (upcoming winter!), until individual houses can be built. If Groff agrees, Bjorn will start building - and supervising the construction - together with up to 4 other people who will use the tools and up to 10 more people (depending on whether volunteers are willing and/or how many people the governor will grant him) who can do digging (e.g. of the foundation), lifting (of beams) and suchlike.

actions:
3 months building the town hall & supervising/coordinating the other workers as needed.
If the town hall takes less than 3 months to build, he'll try to look for alternate/fresh food sources (wild fruit, mushrooms - making sure they are not poisonous first!, root/vegetables, fish -> boat & fishing equip, game - just scouting!) in the remainder of the time

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/nitpicking: We left at the end of winter, then sailed for 5 weeks +3 more days finding a place to land/unload etc., and now it's summer? Isn't a season usually 3 months - approx 12 weeks - long, or did we change latitude so much?

The winds of change are blowing, and if I may say so myself: it's about bloody time!

I think a longhouse would be a better option than a town hall if we are going for a singular large building to take shelter in, since it's already designed to have a lot of people under the same roof. Problem with this is we also house a lot of people under the same roof and spreading of disease is much more risky.
I think the tools available will somewhat limit us regarding how many can do the different jobs, like we can only have 6 people devoted to clearing the forest around us. Maybe double if they can work in shifts to increase production. I suggest that we make maximum use of lumbering, farming, hunting, carpentry and fishing tools. That will take 26, or 52 if we can double it, to let us gain the basic supplies to survive and expand.
I'll also suggest having a clear area to set up a farm is the most important thing followed by shelter from the elements. Which luckily isn't mutually exclusive to work on with 99 people at our disposal.

Ymer will humbly ask for the medical supplies so he's ready to assist the sick

Action for all months: Gather any plants that seems edible. Ask fellow settlers if they want to try them in small amounts and monitor them for any ill effects. General caretaking of people in case they should get sick. Take notes of which plants seem to do what when ingested.

Basically just going to help see what's edible and set up my doctor shop right away.

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Well if the sun is in the sky and it's clear with a temperature above 18 degrees celsius we might as well consider it summer in Denmark it rarely gets much better than that

"Chosen" was a rather twisted way to describe things... They had elected a bunch of skilled professionals, which he didn't even want to be a part off- He came to these new lands to be away from literally everything... With the one agreement he'd be doing the occasional lumber run to still be productive in this "new world". But he was placed in regardless, and then quite literally drew the short straw... He wasn't exactly pleased with the whole thing... But figured the best thing to do to get people out of their hair is just to issue them their commands- And luckily, while not pleased with his situation, at least he doesn't want himself or anyone else to die from anything... So as following

1: Begin immediately with planting what crops we have- We're already late in the season, so first harvest is likely not to be superb.
2: Construct a town-house, which for now will serve as a place to sleep.
3: As we will have run out of proper timber to continue construction, get to woodcutting.
4: Continue woodcutting/refining it- We'll likely need it for next season...

Groff was disgruntled about being thrust into the role of leadership, much preferring to get lost in the wildness of the forest that surrounded them. The trees, many which looked up to 6 and 8 times his age seemed to call to him with their leaves in the gentle breeze. It was eerily beautiful. He was unprepared to order 94 colonists around and finding himself suddenly in the spotlight, the opposite place he wanted to be, he gave out blanket orders to the masses.

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Quick reminder on skills and such: The plebs work on a scale of 1:1, but having broken it down to per month, 1:1/3. Plebs get bonuses from the gov'nor (if available) which increase their production rate based on the amount of skill of the gov'nor.
Second thing to note, searching for something specific is directly related to the skill you have in that area, blacksmith looking for iron adds their skill into their "finding" roll, farmer looking for good land adds their skill into their "finding" roll.

Spring 3:
Immediately disillusioned by the "care package" that the Union sent with them, Thormod searches for a source of ore. He knows what iron ore looks like, which helps him discover an enormous amount of bog iron within a swamp to the west of the campsite. The major downside is that there is currently no trail and it takes a two days to get to the deposit and back again as he has to wind his way through the thick forest. (Searching). (Amount found)

Freya searched for some area in which to do some planting and found two areas of floodplains within the inner bends of the looping river which led into the bay.Searching She then collected the animals that were brought with them, a small family of pigs (1 male,
3 pregnant females)4, a few sheep (1 male, 2 pregnant females)3 and lastly a few goats (1 male, 3 females) 4. She led them by the crude rope leashes that were tied around their necks to the spot in the floodplains that were being cleared for crop growth. Her farming/husbandry skills helped keep the goats from chewing through their leashes and she tied them off at the edge of the forest to graze as they wished.

Bjorn prepared to help with building, but since the colonists were clearing land, he instead focused on the plants that had been growing in the floodplains which the colonists were ripping out as well as taking one of the rowboats out into the bay. She found, in her searching, that there were berries to be found at the edges of the forest, but she was unsure of whether or not they were poisonous.17(berries) She also saw fish in the bay, but was unsure of their type, edibility and how to catch them. 10(Fish)

Bjorn shared his findings to Ymer who, having knowledge of plants took a closer look at the berry bushes 6 but he didn't know what they were other than blue and round.

The colonists were ordered to prepare land for farming and thus they cleared and tilled 31 units of land in the closest floodplains.

Summer 1:
Next, the colonists were ordered to build a nice town-Hall for the governor. They were able to get 31 of 100 of the project built. Thormod helped add 4. (35) Bjorn helped add 2. (37)

Freya starting farming the prepared land and was able to plant 5 units of food. (1 unit = 1/season worth of food)

Ymer continued looking for edible plants and found 15 some edible black berries, but they are very bitter (Elderberries).

Summer 2:
Thormod continued working on the Town-Hall and added 3 work. (40)

Ymer continued looking for edible plants and found 13 some edible red berries which looked like mini grape clusters (raspberries).

The colonists are ordered to chop down trees, and provided with Groffs expert advice on tree chopping. Turns are taken using the few tree removal tools they have, none of which break during their use. 120 trees are chopped down.

Summer 3:
Thormod continued working on the Town-Hall and added 4 work. (48)

Notes:
Buildings Sizes:
(25) Small = small house for a family
(50) Medium = Barn, utility building, warehouse or a slightly larger and nicer family house
(100) Large = A Town-Hall, longhouse, church or general meeting area or a lavish house (governors mansion, etc)

Oh great- Here they are already with the incessant bothering... What's this now? He found a little bit of ore in some far off location? Good iron would probably be good to make more tools in the future... But he could hardly be pressed to care right now.

"We already spent two months stocking up on lumber- We can forego cutting for a while. Best to keep it for winter, where there's little else to do. Take twenty-five of the claimed lumber if you wish- Begin construction of an outhouse near the site."

While Groff might still change actions depending on what others come to nag him about, for now his orders are as follows.

1: He claims that, for the sake of "food diversity", he'd ought to show them how to catch a couple fish, looking out for a good spot... Mostly, he's just hoping that after the initial showing, he can take some time to just fish himself.
2-3: Back to work, he redirects full efforts to the construction of the town hall. Should it be finished before the end of this season, he'll have the men continue to refine the timber into lumber.

(Wait, am I remembering correctly in that it was only three actions/ turn now? Not that it matters much for my actions this time, but still.)

"Oh great, another one... We won't be doing any more cutting this season- We got plenty stocked up, and priority right now is to finish the town hall, so we at least have a roof over our heads come winter. Can I have someone write that on a sign somewhere so I don't need to repeat it again? Anyways, if you want to claim some men to teach them farming, though, find some and take them... At least they'll be off my back..."

Also, a question: did Freya plant some of the food that we have under the "food" category, or did that come from some place else? I just thought that it would have been probably more useful if Bjorn had helped Freya plant stuff, instead of looking for berries. Ah well.

actions:
*) continue to build the town hall (1-3 months, as needed until it is finished)
*) 1 month tops (as available): start making spare parts (e.g. handle for when one breaks) and/or more/new tools from wood as the community needs. (obviously, you can't make a wooden axe, but you can make e.g. a hoe, a rake, a hammer, ... completely from wood.)
*) 1 month tops: make other things (day to day stuff) that will make life easier for the colonists (like e.g. wooden bowls to eat food out of, knifes, forks, spoons, ladle, pot handle, stool/chair,...)

Explanation: this is in descending priority. So if the town hall is (or isn't still) done after 3 months, work on that ONLY. If it's done after 2 months, do the spare parts/tools thing. Only if it should be done after 1 month (what I don't assume, but hey, you never know), do the create daily things action, too.

The winds of change are blowing, and if I may say so myself: it's about bloody time!

The blanket of heat that was summer begins to wane as autumn falls across the land.

Groff's disillusionment with his being in the leadership role continues to grow and his "care" continues to be limited to the desires of his other skilled companions. His denial of help comes along with an offer for Thormond to build himself an outhouse, something which hasn't even been built yet near the beginnings of the village proper. His offer is met with silence from Thormond. Freya also approaches the distant mayor, asking for help in clearing land for an orchard as well as some men to teach her farming skills to. Her request to clear more land is rebuffed, but an offer of sharing farming skills is accepted and the mayor sends 14 laborers her way, keeping the other 80 for his own devices. The other skilled colonists kept to themselves, allowing the mayor at least a small amount of peace.

► Show Spoiler

Feel free to respond to one another's actions when they affect one another. Like m0rt offering wood to build an outhouse. Also, do remember Mr. mayor that you can split the plebs into different tasks in the same month. Ex: you could send 10 to chop wood, 10 to fish, 10 to farm, etc all in the same month.

Fall 1:
80 colonists are commanded to fish, in order to provide some variety of food to the village. Mayor Groff shows them what he knows of fishing. The colonists were only able to catch 10 good-sized fish because there were only 5 fishing rods to be used.

Freya continued to focus on her farming efforts, her work over the course of summer had paid off and now some of what she planted was grown enough to harvest. She was happy to have the help of the 14 colonists whom the mayor granted for her use. She assigns 4 of the colonists to watch the booming animal population and begins wishing that there was an area that was fenced off to keep them properly contained. With the other 10, Freya harvests what she was able to plant.
This month she harvested the wheat she planted: 38+10%=3 + 10 = 51

Ymer continues looking into the local foliage and plants. Searchings
He stumbles over a hard round nut and finds that when broken open the inside is soft and edible. (chestnut)

Animal population explodes:
The pig population began to explode. (10-16 minus additional mortality rates of pigs per pregnancy=lots)32 piglets were born between the 3 pregnant sows. 2 lambs were born, 1 each from the 2 pregnant sheep.3 kids were born to the, 1 each to the 3 pregnant goats.

Fall 2:
Ymer continues looking into the local foliage and plants.
He identifies a poisonous weed (Pokeweed), which at first he thought looked to be a cluster of grapes. Having fed a few to one of the men who then came under a the effects of both a headache and vomiting, Ymer made note to make sure people didn't eat them.

Freya continues to harvest, this time the barley she planted: 16+2 + 10 = 28

Fall 3:
Ymer continues looking into the local foliage and plants.
He identifies an ivy which produces an itchy rash when touched, he notes the distinctive 3 leaf shape and warns others to try to avoid direct contact with the plant. (Poison Ivy)

In the final season of harvesting, Freya takes the time to take a hands on approach to teaching the men how to work the ground. Beans are harvested = 10.
Her efforts in teaching paid off as there were now 2 colonists who had a strong grasp of basic farming techniques.

The mayor commands the colonists to work on the Town-Hall, but it only takes 48 of them to finish it, the remaining 32 are commanded to make additional amounts of lumber. They make 24 green lumber from 7 green timber.

With the town-hall finished, thormond instead works to create a trail through the forest to the bog-iron location. 2 of 10 miles has been cleared of brush, making getting to the swamp easier.

Bjorn focuses on shaping some of the green lumber into tools. She is able to create 10+1(10%)=11 farming tools out of 6 pieces of lumber

Notes:
1. When food is produced by unskilled colonists, it goes into the Communal food storage, which is used based on the mayors discretion...not that it couldn't be stolen seeing as how there are no guards, but strictly speaking, the mayor chooses who gets food. Food produced by players, goes into their own personal supply, but they can choose to share it should they choose to.
2. I'm planting whatever food I want, if you would like to specify what crops you plant, feel free to do so.
3. Actively teaching unskilled colonists doesn't produce anything from yourself, but it teaches them at your learning rate.
4. Winter months will use up wood on a recurring monthly basis based on temperature. 30(avg days/month)+18 (Nominal temp (50) - current roll of 32) = 48 (heat needed per month). 1d7 (Heat provided per piece of timber). This roll will be done, per fireplace. But because the Town-Hall is one giant shared space, the number of fireplaces counts as 1.
Projected timber used for this coming winter: 1d7 (repeat until = 48/month)(repeat per separate buildings fireplace)

As the fall season came to an end, temperatures began to drop. The colonists were happy when the Town-Hall was completed as it meant a place for them to sleep outside of the cold weather and while it wasn't the roomiest of places to sleep, with roughly made beds from blankets littered through the building, it was secure and provided at least a little warmth. The 4 fireplaces, 2 on each level of the 2-story building were lit by those who stayed within its walls and though they only had green timber to burn, they were happy for the warmth it provided.

Notes:
Buildings Sizes:
(10) tiny = outhouses and other very small 1 occupant at a time buildings.
(25) Small = small house for a family
(50) Medium = Barn, utility building, warehouse or a slightly larger and nicer family house
(100) Large = A Town-Hall, longhouse, church or general meeting area or a lavish house (governors mansion, etc)

Freya moves the young animals and their mothers into the trainee-farmers' temporary homes for the winter months, and unceremoniously tells them to keep the animals alive until proper barns can be built to house them. She offers to reward them with first choice of food in the upcoming harvests, but it's otherwise a requirement to save the animals from starving.

Then she goes to the mayor:

"We need a barn to store grain, proper enclosures for the animals, and smokers or drying racks to preserve our meat. The livestock are doing exceptionally well here, but will need to be slaughtered or housed before they freeze to death in the winter months.

The ground for an orchard needs to be cleared sooner rather than later, because it will take years for the trees to grow and bear fruit. Ignoring this now will only lead to more problems in the future. If we lose our crops to a bad year, we'll need a variety of foodstuffs to support us."

Freya continues to spend time:

1. Building a barn (take as long as necessary, hopefully with lots of help from skilled people). If there's time left, she'll do the following in order:
2. Farming
3. Teaching farming

(I don't know anything about crops and stuff, so I guess she'll just plant / harvest / store what she has as appropriately as she can, remembering to save some seed stock for the next harvest each time. I think we'll also follow a rotational harvesting system where we prepare e.g. 4 fields and leave one fallow each year to allow the soil to recover its nutrients and stuff. Otherwise we're likely to run the land to dust and everything will be terrible.).

((I think it'd be reasonable to say that frozen meat technically probably would be safe to eat, but that'd most would leave it for obvious reasons unless they are absolutely certain it was just frostbite/ they're desperate- Can't be sure if it was only the frostbite, or maybe they were already weak, right..?))

To Freya: "Orchards are a luxury, not a necessity. But with that said, you're right." Groff grumbles, almost seeming annoyed at the fact, before sounding at least sincere. "You've done good work so far, and I agree that with the shelter food is certainly the next priority... So here's the deal I've got for you. I'll grant you thirty men as a workforce, for now at least- I'll send more as I deem necessary... Assign them as you deem most fit to help along the production of food, with the caveat that buildings will be kept communal where possible, such as a barn... Although at the current rate, seems that'll matter little anyways. In return, for this workforce and for a part taking some responsibility in helping arrange the food stores for the village... Let us say that four fifths of your harvest shall go into the communal storage as well?"

"I'm not certain I agree with letting the animals in the town hall... Seems a bit cramped, and dirty. Surely we can construct something to keep them sheltered in a rush, no?"

"If you allow the labour, we can surely build a decent barn for them out of lumber and insulate it with straw bales and a firepit (well away from the straw...). Having a few folk take turns sleeping in the barn with the animals will ensure the animals are safe and kept warm enough. I of course will stay with them through the winter too and keep watch over the rest of the farm.

If Thormod, Bjorn and yourself will help, I'm sure we can do this before the worst of the winter weather comes. The outdoor pens can wait for later in the season if need be.

We will need hunters and fishers of course to tide us through with additional food, but I should be able to provide milk and a bit of meat as well. If the animals die of cold or sickness the meat will be spoiled and wasted anyway*."

((So in other words, if we don't get some skilled workers soon, we'll slowly be starving to death unless we put everyone on food/we make Thinks a governor? ))

"Yes, take as much timber as you need to keep a fire going and keep them warm- With thirty men, I'm sure you'll manage..."

Following that, Groff starts issuing commands for the season once again... And given last season, decides to make a few adjustments to management- Everyone receiving orders for the whole next three months... But far more split up than the "80 men fishing with 5 fishing rods" issue that had popped up. Really, though, they couldn't have just done... ANYTHING else..?

Anyways. Thirty men to help Freya in whatever endeavor she needs constructed, and 14 men currently on permanent food production... Damn girl is stealing half his workforce- Although that only means less mouths to nag him... This whole "outsourcing" thing might not be as bad. Anyways- It leaves him with 50 men to command...

-5 men to take the fishing rods and fish- 4 that already have some experience, and 1 at random.
-5 men to cut more lumber, again already people with some experience.
-10 men to help clear the path towards the bog where ore has been found- If their task is completed, they'll move on to help with construction
-5 men to convert raw lumber to usable timber.
-25 men to begin construction of a proper barn or, if this is where Freya starts her focus (rather than a tiny building to just provide some minor shelter for now), aid in that. Should it be completed, the next construction project will be a lumber mill.

((It's probably easier if you roll for all of these at the same time, I figure. ))

Freya will assist in building a proper barn, but will put the baby animals in the town hall with their mothers until it's built. I'm VERY serious about not accidentally letting our adorable future sandwich-fillings die because we forgot to be nice to them or something.

Also, speaking of breeding stuff, has our commoner population stared getting pregnant and stuff yet? I assume that despite being only provided with "men" to work for her, that was just out of grammatical habit and there are more women here than just Freya.

Edit: but that's just wheat, right? Presumably other crops will be more calorie dense and have other payoffs and stuff?

Perhaps a simplified ratio of worker : energy output would help. If I understand your example, then 1 unskilled worker working full time produces half the food he'll need to survive if we plant wheat (since he replaces the calories expended in one season only after 2 seasons work). Unless you mean it'll take them 2 seasons to feed themselves for a year, in which case that seems more sensible.

i.e. UNSKILLED: 1 wheat = 0.5 people
SKILLED: 1 wheat = 1.0 people

If it's per year:

UNSKILLED: 1 wheat = 2.0 people based on per season effort
(assuming we can't farm all year, wheat maxes out at an unskilled guy being able to feed themselves for a year with 6 months effort on wheat production)

SKILLED: 1 wheat = 4.0 people
(divide by two as above and a skilled farmer can feed 2 people per year for 6 months effort)

Is that right or have I gone wrong somewhere?

I'm assuming that we plant in spring and harvest in autumn, leaving winter for survival and summer for other tasks.

I also assume that we're equating wheat with bread, since no-one actually eats flour.

Last edited by thinkslogically on Mon Aug 28, 2017 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

wow, so many posts...
Building outside in the winter is ... hard (and dangerous). I would suggest just to make a "pen compartment" within the town house and keep the animals there throughout the winter. We can build a barn for them in Spring or Summer.

RP:
"Freya, you want us to be building in winter? Are ye daft, lass, or do you just have a death wish? This is way too dangerous, you'll have at least serious injuries on yer hands. Just make do with keeping them piggies and such - even the wee ones - in the town hall, separated safely from the people for now. I can help you with that."

@GM, I got a couple of questions: When do we vote for a new governor (this is not because I want to plot against m0rt but because I don't remember - if it was said already - how long a legislation period was supposed to be)?
Why is Theis' name yellow in the spread sheet?
Why did everyone gain some skills except Bjorn (and the governor, who isn't supposed to gain any)? (Dice unlucky at skill gain?)
If Bjorn crafts e.g. wheelbarrows (so people can transport stuff easier), what will the benefits of that be?
Does Bjorn know how to create/craft smoking racks?
If Bjorn used his mason skill to make the according parts (that cannot be made from wood - e.g. axe blade), and his carpentry skill, could he make other tools (that do need bits other than made from wood), provided (which atm we don't) he has the right kind of rocks/stone handy?
What size building is a saw mill? What else (other than lumber) would we need to build it (I'm assuming it needs some sort over over-dimensional saw, and probably some other bits and bobs)?
Since you wrote that e.g. 10 lumber makes a "1 resident can work in there only" kind of building, can we start off with something like that and then remodel it for more people to be able to work there?
What does determine the quality of crafted tools?

actions:
If Freya consents to make a "animal compartment" within the townhall, Bjorn will help build that, for as long as it takes.
If Freya insists on building outside he'll have no part in that, he's not willing to freeze his own ar...m off for the animals. Or worse, have someone slip in icy sleet and drop a wooden beam on him, killing him instantly. No thank you.
In either case, if he has time left over (if Freya insists on building outside, that should be 3 whole months), he will work one month on creating fishing tools.
If he has time left over, he will use one month to prepare nice posts etc. (building material) for some sort of animal paddock, so in Spring, people will only need to erect them.
If he still has time left over, he'll try his hand at making some wheel barrows (one month).

Thormod grumbles about the lack of vision among his fellow settlers, and sneers at their attempts to turn weak stone into something useful. Stone's for building, not for tools. Having nothing better to do, he'll work on clearing the trail to the swamp when the weather allows, hauling the cleared brush and small trees back to the settlement to supplement the firewood stores.

((Brush and saplings might be able to be woven together to form crude fencing for livestock))

If the path gets cleared to where Thormod reasonably feels like he can start harvesting iron once things thaw, he'll spend some time pitching in on carpentry projects.

((I'll mention this, and let you decide if you'd allow it, but I'd like to take one of the guns with me on excursions, and make use of any hunting opportunities that present themselves.))

Last edited by spiderwrangler on Tue Aug 29, 2017 7:49 am, edited 2 times in total.

The warm days of the Autumn months fall away and winter sets in. Freya talks of the needs of the future, a barn for animals and the storage of food. Groff, his typical bitter self, continues to withdraw from his elected office and grumbles with annoyance. He agrees to grant some men to work on her ideas as long as she agrees to share some of their food production with the general storage. An agreement is made, though Groff is reluctant to see Freya as an equal, he is not so bold as to say what he thinks outright, they needed food badly if they were to survive. He put his foot down against animals moving into the town-hallÃ”Ã‡Âª.his town-hall, his eyes glittered at that thought, this was all his. Having learned his lesson in the fall about giving too few orders, Groff spreads out the work to various efforts, as if he was finally taking this governor stuff seriously.

All Season:

Governor Groff gives commands to the men to focus on for the entire season.

-5 men to take the fishing rods and fish- 4 that already have some experience, and 1 at random. Groff aids them with his know-how.
48, 53, 63, 94 & 4 produce 10 food (Fish)
NPC 94 becomes (1) skilled in fishing

-5 men to cut more lumber, again already people with some experience. Groff aids them with his know-how.
80, 3, 15, 47 & 85 produce 11 timber.

During construction, 1 of the men died from hypothermia, he had gotten hot from work and had removed his coat as he was sweating so much. He was crossing the river and fell in and died.

-10 men to help clear the path towards the bog where ore has been found- If their task is completed, they'll move on to help with construction. + Thormond.
Winter made clearing the path much easier as much of the brambles and small trees whose foliage would have been in the way had died off for the winter months, the path was cleared and a trail created between the townhall and the bog.

Bjorn makes 8 basic fishing tools using 8 lumber.

The fire burns warmly: Uses 13 timber

Winter 2:

Bjorn makes 8 fencing materials using 5 lumber . The paddock would normally cost 25 lumbers to build, because Bjorn made these materials ahead of time, it now costs the 8 fencing materials +17 lumber.

3 of the men fell ill with what at first was just thought of as a cough, but when that cough began to produce flecks of blood, worry fell over the camp, the three men quickly succumbed to whatever afflicted them and their bodies were dragged into the forest and burned for fear of whatever had taken them spreading. The man who had been selected to drag the bodies went on to catch whatever it was himself, however Ymer, not willing to let the man dies takes care of the man.

With the barn completed, the animals were moved in as were the several bales of straw that had been collected during the wheat harvest. These were stacked about the edges to help trap in the warmth, but there was no fireplace as there was a general fear of burning the entire building down. Besides, the animals were built to take the winter months, the barn made this more comfortable than standing outside for them.

The fire burns warmly: Used brush collected while trail building

Winter 3:

Bjorn makes 9 wheelbarrows using 9 lumber. These can be used to make other tasks easier (IÃ”Ã‡Ã–ll have to get back to you on how)

With the barn finished and the animals moved in to the warmer and safer building, the workers move on to work on the sawmill, per the demands of the governor. It is situated upriver where the bed is narrower and the land somewhat hilly.

Here, the 60 men begin to labor on the saw mill. They get 20 work done (20 of 50) using 20 lumber. Thormond helps by adding 9 work using 9 lumber. (29 of 50)
Ymer continues taking care of the sick man who by the end of winter looks healthy again.

The fire burns warmly: Uses 13 timber

Freya focuses on the animals well-being, making sure they survive the rest of the winter.
<Map update>

Notes:
Buildings Sizes:
(10) tiny = outhouses and other very small 1 occupant at a time buildings.
(25) Small = small house for a family
(50) Medium = Barn, utility building, warehouse or a slightly larger and nicer family house
(100) Large = A Town-Hall, longhouse, church or general meeting area or a lavish house (governors mansion, etc)

((is the barn supposed to be listed under completed buildings now that we have one?))

Pleased that the animals have survived the winter and the barn was built, Freya asks for help building a paddock / enclosed pasture for the animals to enjoy through the spring.

She will help build that if needed, but since it's not her area of expertise, will prepare to leave it to the others and spend her time growing crops. Shell focus on planting those crops that will give the greatest return on effort.

She will also speak to the other town experts and ask their opinions on improving the efficiency of the farming process with tools (e.g. ploughs, scythes etc.). It's quite clear that they are all likely to starve if they don't start producing more food than they're eating...